The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-05-07

him bear his sin, and the odium which
ever attaches to unrepented crime"
To me my brother comes and says:
Though rich, for your sake 1 became
poor, that ye, through my poverty might
become rich" 81 have thus borne
your griefs, and carried your sorrows;
the chastisement of your peace was
upon me, and with my stripes ye are
healed" "For the sake of right itself,
and the love we all bear to you, put
away the evil of your doing; cease to
do evil, learn to do we'll" Such love of
Father and brother, such tenderness,
such sacrifice, and cross bearing for my
sake would soon break my stubborn
spirit into penitence, and love toward
Father, brother, and friend. l thus
become reconciled to the law of right;
my father and brother, and my recon-
ciled neighbor also are brought together;
and all parties reach that state which
may be expressed as a condition of
"at-one-ment," with each other.
Thus loving friendly mediator steps
in unsolicited, and solely as a gracious
favor, and atones fully for my wrong.
In this act no principle of cruelty in
any sense appears, as is at once appar-
ent in the case of punishment inflicted
upon an innocent party as substitute
for the guilty one. It is what any low
ing one might do as sacrifice for a
friend. It is what one has done for man
while they were yet enemies. 1t is
what many patriot and soldier has
done for his country in the late war !;
where, in order to atone for, and right
up the wrongs of the oppressed, and
save the country from perishing, he gave
himself and bis all az a sacrifice to his
love Of country, and home. 1t is no
stretch of fancy to suppose that many
parent would feel kind of obligation
to step in, and at the sacrifice of all his
property, and even of life itself, make
amends for the crimes of Maynard
son. And il no earthly father would,
| there is many a mother that would do
so gladly, had she ability, and did the
occasion offer.
Now let it be admitted that Christ
was possessed Of even delegated power,
and authority, to promise what he did,
and to announce the purpose of God to
raise the dead, and to destroy death,
and all evil that has the power of death;
and we have the worlds high priest,
who as the vice-gerent Of Jehovah, is
capable Of making a perfect restitution,
satisfaction, and complete atonement for
the sins of the whole world; ''bo h
original and actual - as some of the
creeds express it. Does the murderer
send his victim to the grave Christ
has power to raise him from the grave,
and give him life eternal. Is ones
property stolen God through his ap-
pointed son can give the true riches
that shall never fade away. Is any one
robbed of character Christ announces
that we shall have new name; and be
clothed in garments as white as the light.
1t is said of Christ, after promising all
things to his disciples, and declaring
the complete destruction of the works
of evil 1.-THE deviD ''whom the heavens
must receive until the times of restitu-
ton of all things which God hath spo-
ken by the mouth of all his holy pro-
phets since the world began.'
This restitution of all things" is
the completed atonement, accomplish
ing the perfect reconciliation of the
world to God, until he shall be all in all.
Thus, when the yicarious atonement
of Christ is preached, no one is shocked
by its being represented as pun
ishment "a cruel and arbitrary de-
mand from an innocent substitute of
blood for blood; of an eye for an eye;
of so much suffering as revenge for so
much wrong. Indeed, it is seen to be
a substitution of an amendment, in
place of a retributive stroke of punish
ment, whether by the principal or by
the friendly mediator, so that anything
like vengeance is no longer needed.
Damnation or condemnation is turned
to justification. The wrong has been
rectifed by the right. The injustice
has been obliterated by an act of just
compensation. An act of grace by the
mediator has absolutely annulled the
crime of him, who in his heart, repudi-
ates and would destroy the sin if he
could so that "God can be just, and
the justiier of him which thus believ-
eth in Jesus" That is, he who be-
lieves in Christ's golden rule, and law of
love, enough to reduce them to practice.
In short, the whole thing may be sum
med up in this "God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosOever believeth in him
might not perish but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world, THAT is,
neither condemn nor punish, as have
shown above,l but that the world |
through him might be saved" John |
iii. IS, 10 Saved from sin, and of